


ice cream & new friends

by cinnamonstickrayofsunlight



Category: We Are The Tigers - Allen
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:53:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27576122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cinnamonstickrayofsunlight/pseuds/cinnamonstickrayofsunlight
Summary: mattie makes some new friends
Relationships: Kate/Eva Sanchez (We Are The Tigers), Mattie & Eva Sanchez (We Are The Tigers)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	ice cream & new friends

mattie was uncomfortable. she had rejoined the cheer team in an attempt to make things feel normal.

normal. she wasn’t sure that had a real definition anymore. 

logically, she knew she was safe. no more juvie, no more stabbings, no more lawyers or handcuffs or orange jumpsuits. yet, as the small voice in the back of her head so kindly reminded her, these were the same girls that caused all of that.

had they been kind to her since returning? sure, but that didn’t appeal to her thoughts. how was she going to stay in school with all of them, on a team with those same people, if she can’t calm down before practice has even started?

“mattie? do you need some help?” reese asked, and then mattie realized how aggressively she’d thrown her backpack down. 

“um, no thank you. but i do have a question.” mattie said, “could somebody give me a ride home?” her teammates turned to look as they registered the question. too many eyes. she didn’t like it.

eva responded the quickest, “i could do it! i take kate to community service first, but i could drop you off after that?” mattie nodded gratefully, and then exhaled, the scariest part was over.

-

too late, mattie had realized the scariest part was not over, the actual car ride hadn’t even begun. as she nervously put everything in her bag, she desperately tried to rationalize her thoughts. eva was nice to her, right? she wasn’t even there that night. mattie only met her on their first practice back, which meant she didn’t know her, could she be even more dangerous than riley and mattie didn’t know it?

luckily, a voice interrupted her thoughts. “we have some extra time, but we’ll probably stop for food on the way over. are you ready to go?

mattie said “yes”, and they started the walk to eva’s car. kate and eva were holding hands, and eva was talking about something they’d done in her environmental science, while mattie followed, trying to stay as silent as possible, so she wouldn’t make it awkward.

she supposed this was what school teams are like when they’re normal. “that word. again?” she thought. nothing was normal about this, she was an ex-convict, about to get in a car to drop someone off to do community service for wrongfully accusing someone of murder, and that someone was her.

eva had stopped at a small, blue car, with a necklace hanging from the rearview mirror. 

“this is my car,” she announced to mattie, and then opened the door to the backseat, “sorry if it’s dirty, it’s not really my car, my mom just isn’t using it”

mattie found this amusing, other than a small box sitting on the child’s car seat next to her, the area was spotless. after she buckled herself in, she looked around in her backpack for a pair of earbuds, this might not be a long ride, but it wasn’t something she wanted to make worse.

kate turned to the back seat and said softly, “hey, important question, do you like ice cream?” 

caught completely off guard, mattie nodded yes.

the other girl laughed, “okay good. we’re getting some on our way over”

“you really don’t have to do that. i’m just fine with you taking me home” mattie insisted.

eva shook her head, “it’s not that big of a deal! kate and i were planning on it anyway. obviously, you don’t have to have some, but you don’t have to say no if you don’t want to”

mattie felt… embarrassed? “that’s really nice, i would like that,” she said

kate shrugged and turned to face mattie again, “no problem, ice cream is the least i could do.”

everything inside the car seemed to tense up, just another little reminder of what permanently changed her definition of normal. it felt like the voice inside her head was screaming “you can’t trust her. she helped send you to prison, remember?”

a loud voice interjected, “mattie, i’m sorry. that wasn’t something i needed to bring up.”

she responded, “um, yeah? i don’t really want to talk about that right now” 

the car was silent for a while before eva finally spoke up, “i can’t stand this tension, we need an icebreaker question,” she paused, then said, “mattie: favorite movie?”

mattie answered almost immediately, “the last five years. my parents let me watch it for the first time when i came home, and i’ve watched it almost every night since.”

kate said, “that’s one of my favorites too, have you listened to the soundtracks?”

for some reason, this made eva laugh, “katie! you never told me you were a theater kid”

“i never needed to disclose that information,” she replied.

eva was about to say something else, but they pulled into the drive through. she ordered them three ice cream cones, and drove to the window. 

she opened her backpack and said, “just a minute, i need to find my wallet.” but kate leaned towards the building and handed the person a card.

after giving kate a defeated look, eva drove forward so they could collect their ice cream, and handed mattie her cone. 

“this was really nice, can i pay you back at practice?” mattie asked.

“definitely not,” kate responded, “my parents rarely check the card anyway, you’re fine,”

as they pulled out of the parking lot, kate and mattie continued their conversations about movies and musicals. once they reached the parking lot to drop kate off, mattie realized that she had actually enjoyed that conversation, and she might have a friend now?

kate grabbed her bag out of the car, waved goodbye, and entered the building. eva turned to the back seat, “do you want to move up here? also i need your address, so that i can drive you home,” 

mattie gave the front seat a panicked look, but after a small amount of consideration, decided it would (hopefully) make the remaining drive less painful. she gave eva the address, and moved up to the front seat.

eva exhaled, and turned to her, “hey, i wanted to ask: how are you feeling? i’m not a genius but i can guess this would be a lot for you to handle. and you don’t have to answer, but i want you to know i’m here for you.” mattie, just stared for a while, and then started crying.

“can i hug you?” eva asked, and mattie nodded.

eva reached over and hugged her, and mattie just cried into her shoulder. after what felt like forever, mattie leaned back. her hair was stuck to her face, and her eyes were probably red, but that was the first time in a long time she’d felt safe.

“thank you,” mattie said as she wiped her eyes off.

“no problem,” eva said, “i’m always here if you need me.”

they drove out of the parking lot, mattie telling a story about her english class, then eva said something about lunch that day, and the easy conversation carried mattie all the way home.

when eva pulled into mattie’s driveway, the younger girl leaned over and gave her another hug. 

“thank you again eva, so much,” she said, and the other girl just smiled.

“like i said, it’s no problem, and if you ever need me, just text,” eva waved as mattie left the car and started walking back into her house, and for a selfish moment, felt happy.

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!! this is my first fic in years and im very proud of it. this fic is based on my major headcanon that eva and mattie become friends!!! if you have any fic suggestions please tell me in the comments or message me at @cinnamonstickrayofsunlight on tumblr!!!!


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